I was sitting in the Weekend Office yesterday when a large, heavy-set, florid man, about my age, plodded over to me. He sported a shaved head, wore a couple of gold chains around his thick neck, barely clearing his jowly chin, and had a rather large beer-belly that flopped over his swimming trunks. He stood about two feet away from me and started to practically yell in my face that Toronto was the team to beat this year. I asked him why he thought so, but his response was he’d bet me $1000 right now that the Blue Jays would beat the Yanks by at least 5 games this coming season. (I was wearing my Yankee hat at the time.) I declined. Then he proceeded to rant about how A-Rod came crawling back to the team, about how the pitching would be non-existent, and about what a chicken s**t organization the Yanks are.
I really, really wanted to jump on this guy, but I just smiled and nodded my head. It seemed the best thing to do, then. While I’m not technically a member of the Yanks nor an employee of the State Department, I suppose I do, in a way, represent them. So, in a situation like that, it’s best to keep my cool. The guy bloviated some more, but finally gave up, probably sensing that I wasn’t going to rise to his bait. As he walked away, I wished him good luck this season. I forgot to ask him where he was from (not that I could really get a word in edge-wise), but I’ve never met a Canadian who was such a blow-hard, red-neck type of person, so I assume he was from the U.S., but I could be wrong.
Working with such a class organization as the Yankees, perhaps some of that class has rubbed off on me. Their class is evident, so no response from me was really necessary. I should have taken up the bet, though. This guy was way over the top, coming up to a total stranger and sounding off like that. Why, I could have had a black belt in taek-wan-do (blue belt is fairly close)–I could know a little bit about Muay Thai boxing (ok, I’ve watched it before)–I could have been a psychotically obsessive Yankee fan. I guess it was his lucky day. 
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You certainly WERE gracious to your ‘friend from the North’ … however did you resist the temptation to point out the obvious about the Canada/Hockey -vs- Canada/Baseball relationship ?
A recent interview of Derek Jeter and the other 3 MLB Team Captains demonstrated the class to which you refer. And although I agree with your friend about A-Rod, whose behavior between the lines, while often inspired, is frequently childish. And the new Yankees management is less like Nero and more like the Roman Senate. So I see the rivalry between the 2007 World Champions and their ‘neighbors to the South’ as gaining civility … which for you and me will allow us to continue the friendly jibing and loving chatter.
In the meanwhile Kelly returns home from Fort Meyers today. Her photos are fantastic but she failed in her mission to procure an autograph from my hero: Tito. Ah well … leaves me something to which I can aspire.